Playgroup v/s daycare

[loveshack]

Ok who's tired of comparing the two? :)
Do you think playgroups provide sufficient activities/stimulation for bubs? Or would you choose daycare over playgroup (even if you didn't have to work) ?

[Milliner]

I have been thinking the same thing. Our situation is that DS has been in daycare for 6 months. He has progressed really well with his development but I have an issue with him getting hurt. He came home yesterday bitten on the nose, bruise on his eye and a large scratch on his neck. This is not the first time he has come home with bite marks either.

I need to weigh up the pros and cons too. If I take him to a couple of different playgroups a week then I think he will get the same benefits but with me watching.

[MummaBear03]

It depends on the playgroup you go to. We went to swimming lessons, which was a specific activity, also we went to Mainly Music, another specific activity. We tried a playgroup where the mums sat in their little group and whinged about the parents who were not there that week, being nasty about them while the kids played in a corner with broken toys and were shooed away (one mother told her 2 year old to "f-- off, this is Mummy's coffee time") so that wasn't one I'd like to have stayed at. We tried many, and finally settled on one that went from 8am to 1pm, they had planned activities, the parents assisted in the activities each week. They would get there and have outside free play until 9am then have fruit for morning tea, every parent brought along a piece of fruit and church volunteers cut it up to share it. They would then have "music time" from 9:15 to 9:30 then they'd have a variety of activities set out, 3 table activities with craft, playdough, etc and also things like little kitchens, blocks, and all sorts of toys you'd expect to find in a childcare centre. It was church-run for kids aged 1 to 5 and cost $2 a week. The parents also brought along adult morning tea each week on a rotational basis and helped with the cleaning up each day, also on a rotational basis.

[Milliner]

Mummabear that sounds like what I am looking for!

[loveshack]

We tried many, and finally settled on one that went from 8am to 1pm, they had planned activities, the parents assisted in the activities each week. They would get there and have outside free play until 9am then have fruit for morning tea, every parent brought along a piece of fruit and church volunteers cut it up to share it. They would then have "music time" from 9:15 to 9:30 then they'd have a variety of activities set out, 3 table activities with craft, playdough, etc and also things like little kitchens, blocks, and all sorts of toys you'd expect to find in a childcare centre. It was church-run for kids aged 1 to 5 and cost $2 a week. The parents also brought along adult morning tea each week on a rotational basis and helped with the cleaning up each day, also on a rotational basis.

I went to a similar one,although another had only free play,with no activities as such.Do you think playgroup is sufficient if it has enough activities?Why is there so much pressure to put bubs in daycare even if we don't work?:crying:

[MummaBear03]

I went to a similar one,although another had only free play,with no activities as such.Do you think playgroup is sufficient if it has enough activities?Why is there so much pressure to put bubs in daycare even if we don't work?:crying:
I don't know where the pressure comes from, mine only went as she got towards her second birthday and only because it was either I work or we go hungry. I didn't have the internet or any other expenses at the time that we could cut back on. I was faced with criticism from all around that I was having her in daycare so young and even now I'd pull her out if we could survive without me working. I don't like her being there, and feel she would get more from playgroups and other meet-ups, whether they had planned activities or free play, than she could get from daycare. Free play means they use their imagination more.

[Jo9999]

I don't think there's any pressure to use daycare?
I have just started dd at 1 day a week at 3 years of age, but up to now we have just done playgroups, playdates, swimming, kindergym type activities, library storytimes etc etc. It's been enough for her.
Now her 1 day a week is great, but I put her in mainly so I can have one day to ds which is all his. Although she is doing well there and it is great for fostering independence and as a preperation for Prep and doing stuff without Mummy, but they don't need that till they are at least a few years old.
Just my opinion :)

[Phascogale]

My kids all went to a playgroup. Firstly it's much cheaper to go to playgroup. I was paying something like $6/session for 3 kids. Mind you it was for only 2 hours a week.

The playgroup I went to had between 15-20 kids (depending on who turned up and there were lots of siblings so there might've been about 12 families) for each session (they ran 5 sessions a week initially and then added another 3 or 4 in a different room because they were so popular).

There was an outdoor area with a huge array of toys and equiptment. There was the major stuff like sandpit and swings etc as well as cars and push bikes and balls and all sorts of things. They weren't all put out at once but if there was something your child really wanted then you could get it.

Inside they had 4 tables worth of activities. Each week there was a new craft but there was always playdough and a drawing table and the other table had fine motor skills stuff ie puzzles/threading but these things changed every week (ie different puzzles). There was also painting. Then there was the home corner, reading corner, dress ups. Heaps and heaps of stuff. And the kids could do whatever they wanted.

I guess the difference between day care and playgroup is that you as the mum needs to interact with the child while they are playing (if they want you too) while at daycare you leave the child while someone else plays with them. And you get a chance at some adult conversation.

It's not necessarily that one is better than the other, they are different. You can do both if you really want (and aren't working full time).

And I too think that you don't need to start with a lot of the 'extra' stuff until your child is older, say 2-3.

[studyingECS]

I work in both a childcare centre and playgroup.

Playgroup and childcare have the same amount of activities really depending where you go...the difference is playgroup is for 2 hours a week and childcare can be alot longer.

Maybe try playgroup first and see if you both like going..........also think aswell as her enjoying herself, you will meet others aswell...so you might get something out of it too:thumbsup:

[mum_inlove]

Well, I haven't put any of my children into daycare, so I wouldn't know. But I go to playgroups, different playgroups for different days, I like it coz while I have some adults conversation, I can still watch ds having fun with other little ones.

I went to a playgroup where it held in the local daycare centre (like the biggest one out of 3 centres that we have here),it was so bad, there's no way I'd put him into that centre. So playgroup is my choice at the moment.